Drabbles
by Aliada
Summary: My contributions for the GatheringFiKi Drabble Challenge 2. More is to come!
1. Cold

He is feeling cold. Shivery and cold. His wound hurts quite bad, making him even more miserable. But it's not even the main reason for his misery. It's Uncle, forbidding him to come. It's Fili staying behind because of him. Sudden tears burn his eyes and he blinks them away, angrily. It wasn't supposed to be like that. He wasn't supposed to get hit by an arrow. He was supposed to free all of them and escape, totally unharmed and rewarded with Thorin's proud smile. He was supposed… Just before the tears manage to escape, he is suddenly enveloped in a warm embrace which, for some strange reason, burns him just as much as the stupid tears burn his eyes, hindering his ability to see. No matter, he wasn't going to see anything good anyway, was he? But no. It was Fili. And for Fili he must… The embrace tightens and Kili realizes that he's no longer able to control the wetness on his cheeks.

"It's okay, " Fili whispers, and Kili nods in response, even though he does not really want to.

But how can he not? It's Fili who had demanded to stay behind just to be with him. To console him after his own stupidity. He is still cold, but no longer shivery, not the bad kind of shivery, anyway. Somehow, the warmth of Fili's body makes it all better.

"He thinks I'm not worthy," he whispers before he can stop himself and cringes at the tone of his voice.

"He cares for you," Fili answers, never breaking his hold, and Kili feels himself melt into it. He just wants to sleep. And he wants for the cold to go away and never to return. He wants…

"You're sick, Kili. But you'll get better. And you'll see all the things you want to see, and more. Much more," Fili's voice is suddenly fervent, and, for a moment, Kili feels the cold disappear. He knows that it will return, but for now, it's warm. Warm and hopeful.

And Fili knows it, too. It will be hard and painful. It will shatter their resolve and their patience, but they will get through it anyway. As they always have. Together.


	2. I didn't mean it

"I didn't mean it."

Oh… no. It was usually the beginning of the most unfathomable deeds which usually resulted in even more unfathomable consequences. And somehow, Kili still managed to make it sound innocent. Innocent, indeed.

"They were just jumping up and down, so what was I supposed to do?"

"Not throw Thorin's sword at them, clearly."

Yes, that was bad. It was even worse than he'd expected. Thorin would… No, it was better not to finish that sentence.

"Why would one even throw a sword at someone?" To his own ears, Fili sounded unexpectedly calm and philosophical, but that didn't to anything to placate Kili whose manner was becoming increasingly fidgety. And for a good reason. When Thorin… No.

"Well, to catch them, course!" Kili exclaimed, inappropriatly gleeful.

Fili rubbed his temples. Migraine wasn't an option he gladly considered, so he decided to change the line of questioning. Not that he expected a more hopeful answer, but it was still worth a try.

"And why was it Thorin's sword and not yours?"

For a moment, Kili almost looked indignant and Fili had to stifle a nervous laughter that was threatening to erupt. Instead, he cleared him throat and gave Kili a serious look.

Kili flustered and looked down.

"It was you who brought it here," he mumbled.

In retrospect, it wasn't the wisest move, but Thorin was so conveniently busy and the sword looked… well, conveniently placed, so he just took it, excitement overweighing trepidation.

"Yes, so we could look at it, not get it captured."

A sword, captured. By strange jumping creatures, no less. That was complete and utter madness.

Kili was still looking down.

"What if we go and look for them?"

"Yes, and ask them nicely to return it, A great idea, brother."

Kili shot him a look.

"Well, they seemed innocent enough."

The obvious question was hanging between them like a cloud, but no one said a word.

"I panicked, Fili! I thought they were orcs. They were just very… orc-looking."

Fili sighed and was just about to propose a plan when they were suddenly startled by a new, but very much expected development.

"Fili! Kili!"

Now, running after the jumping creatures seemed like a good idea to both of them.


	3. Lessons

_**A/N:**__It's a__ promised __(__and __unexpectedly expanded) sequel to 'I didn't mean it'. It's not a drabble in the traditional sense of word, but seeing as I didn't want to post it as a stand-alone, let's just call it a very big drabble :)_

_Also, unlike in canon, Thorin has had previous (not particularly pleasant) interactions with Rhosgobel Rabbits, which, apart from being very fast, are also very grabby :D_

"So, what are you going to say for yourselves?" Thorin asked.

He wasn't shouting. Even worse, he was growling, in a dark, low tone.

Another problem was that there were no good answers for this question. Even if there were, the question was meant to scare them all away. And Thorin was awfully good at that.

Fili looked at Kili and suddenly regretted it because Kili was wearing his 'I know how to handle this' expression, and that never ended well. Not with Thorin, anyway.

'Uncle...' Kili began, his tone inappropriately inspirational.

Fili forced himself not to interrupt. Instead, he looked at Thorin directly, trying to gauge his mood. Sometimes, when they were little and in trouble, they would just look at him imploringly and ask, in the most remorseful tone, if he was indeed angry. Well, Kili did anyway. Fili never quite mastered that art form completely. And wonder of wonders, Thorin would actually relent. Not always, but in a good eighty percent of cases. He'd never let them off the hook completely, but there was always a hint of 'I'm very much willing to forgive you' conveyed through his softening eyes or unexpected gestures of affection that never failed to turn their mostly demonstrative remorse into something genuine. Kili used to get teary-eyed at this stage. It wasn't Thorin's scolding that undid him. It was always something else. And Fili was witnessing that 'something else' right now.

Thorin looked grave, no question about that. But his gaze directed at Kili wasn't harsh. It held a solid promise, though. Also, it held love. Kili was, as ever, happily oblivious to everything but his own excitement.

"We were just going to go hunting, Uncle. Were we not, Fili? But the evening is almost upon us, so we must..."

At that moment, Fili wished he still looked down and didn't see Thorin's changed expression. Now, it was... smoldering is the only word Fili could think of, and it didn't sound good, not in the slightest. And for a good reason. Kili's 'pretend we are daft" scheme was going to fail for one simple reason - because they were in fact daft and Fili most of all for allowing Kili to get them in this mess in the first place. Not that Kili needed any permission for that sort of thing.

Thorin was now looking at them with raised eyebrows, which, Fili knew, meant the battle between faint amusement and explosion. He hoped it wasn't going to be the latter. To stop that hopeless train of thought and alleviate some tension, he nudged Kili's shoulder and sent him a meaningful look. Kili seemed to get the message, but it didn't deter him in the slightest.

"Stop that!" Fili hissed, doubling the force behind the nudge.

He didn't want to make it too demonstrative, for the obvious and very reasonable fear that Thorin wouldn't approve. But Kili loved drama, which meant that Fili wouldn't get a proper response out of him until he was sufficiently indulged.

Kili rubbed his arm sullenly, apparently satisfied with the increased level of attention.

And they were going to receive plenty of attention from Thorin if they didn't come up with a plausible explanation for that unfortunate incident.

"Look, Thorin. I've read about these creatures. They resemble rabbits, and they are in fact rabbits, but more like monkey-rabbits. Because they do what monkeys do. That is, grab things."

Great. Now, he sounded like an illogical version of Kili. Or an ordinary version of Kili. It was sometimes hard to tell the difference.

Kili's suddenly offended expression didn't make it any better.

"You've _read_ about them? And you never told me?"

The level of disbelief in Kili's voice was spectacular even for Kili.

Fili ignored him, not in the mood for yet another pointless banter.

Thorin appeared strangely thoughtful.

"I know what you speak of. Rhosgobel Rabbits. Bigger in size and, evidently, in mischief,"

Now, his look was definitely cutting. Even Kili was affected, judging by his lowered head.

"Curse these wizards."

The words were certainly not meant for their ears, but Fili still heard. Wizards? What did wizards have to do with that? Kili's expression lit up with a sudden interest, but Thorin was faster.

"Not another word. No comments and no questions. You attract enough trouble as it is, without wizards getting involved."

Fili pondered the riddle but then, having found no plausible explanation, decided to settle on relief. It seemed, these wizards were getting on Uncle's nerves as much as the elves. Or very nearly at the very least. Which meant that they were no longer the primary target of his displeasure. Feeling rather satisfied with himself, he threw Kili a smug look. Kili grinned.

"That was really clever, brother."

Fili shrugged, in a slightly dismissive manner, while the praise settled warmly inside his chest.

Thorin had wandered away from them and was now rubbing his forehead. Now, they just needed to steal away quietly, and…

"Not a step farther. We will discuss your behavior shortly. Until that, use your time to reflect on how one would fare without a sword. A bow is also off limits, Kili. And my meaning is just as literal as it's figurative."

Fili felt a groan coming out of his throat, but Kili beat him to it, and the sound he made conveyed enough disappointment for both of them.

"So, we're now stuck thinking about this stupid-"

Having received a well-deserved cuff to the back of his head, Kili bristled but fell silent. Fili threw a cautious look in Thorin's direction.

"And what does it even mean? Literate and… that other word?"

Fili let out a long sigh. Apparently, a part of his punishment was to educate Kili on the meaning of words.

"What it means, little brother, is that we are not going to be doing any fighting any time soon. Because our time will likely be filled with writing essays and… talking."

He supposed, the grim look in his eyes was enough for Kili to realize that 'talking' was used figuratively in this case, even if the word 'figurative' was still a mystery to him. In truth, before today it was also a mystery to Fili. Apparently, some lessons were meant to be learned the hard way.


End file.
